neversaydie

Cant see it being a problem. My 97 Virago was imported from Colorado and its in mint nick and viragos sold by the shed load in the states, all air cooled.

Top man Good luck with mod 2

Jeez, agreeing with Leatherat twice in a day. He must be mellowing. Dont forget Zippo, youll save an absolute fortune on travel costs, and nip through congested roads

There is a centre stand conversion available for the XVS 125 How did you manage to knock it off? Leatherats advice is sound, any engineering workshop or a mate with a mig welder, its a beer money job

Lots to pick from, comes down to personal choice, ask 10 riders and youll likely get 10 different answers. My view is, an oil rather than a wax, i use Silkolene. Take the chain off the bike, thoroughly clean it with parrafin, hang it up to dry. When dry, lay it out flat on a sheet of plastic/binliner etc, spray as recommended on the can, hang it up again and wipe off excess, refit chain. Theres a good link somewhere on the site to chain maintenance, have a look at that too.

www.rsbikepaint.co.uk

There has to be a bit of freeplay in pivot/bush. Just make sure that the circlip (spring clip) is on, that holds the pedal on. If youre gonna ride it regularly, get into the habit of once month or so, slip the circlip off and slide the pedal off, wipe the muck and shite out of the bush and off the shaft, then put some fresh grease back on. Helps to prevent wear and keeps it nice and easy moving

Dont be frightened to walk away. Be 100% certain this is what you want, there are plenty of good condition bikes around for sale

Looks a nice bike. Enjoy. On my Dragstar 125 the tax disc uses the screw the fixes the fender to the front fork, the Virago uses the brake caliper mounting bolt. Just open out the hole is the disc holder to suit. Tax disc MUST be visible

Lets hope the leaks arent a sign of damage due to overfilling. 2 pieces of sound advice posted so far, both simple to do and possible quick wins Let us know how you get on

Yep, O rings/rubber seals etc, never done that with fibre type flat gaskets

Be sure to prevent this again, grease up threads etc

Reminds me of the time an old mate and me got a lift on a boat across the Med to Tangiers. On board was the most stuck up posh middle aged middle class woman. As my mate and I stood leaning over the side of the boat with beers in hand watching the fish eating stuff on the hull, said posh twerp nipped into the crapper directly behind us. Two minutes later, we heard the flush, and a few seconds later out she came, just as her turd was rolling up the curved hull of the boat beneath us, furiously being pecked at by the fish. "scuse me duck, is this yours" Priceless

Provided its a bona fide gasket that youve purchased, and not cut from a piece of old rubber youve found lying around your garage, then then gasket will be made from material to seal without sealant. Just make sure that the mating faces are clean and dry, follow the torque instructions in the manual.

I guess all those who have tried this now all reside in church yards If your tyre is worn out, get it replaced. Your life depends upon it.

Overfilling can cause pressure build up and blow seals. Drain the excess off, check levels with the bike level

You can buy repair kits with the mushroom type plugs. If you take the wheel off and take it to a workshop, I reckon it will cost youa bout a tenner. Thats what I did last month. Nail has to be on the tread and not the sidewall, some places wont repair front tyres

Thanks Joe, but the problem is the distance from the bars to the levers. That would stay the same with pullback risers. As I said in an earlier post, Ive made some adjustments and am going to try that for a while. Ray

Top man, good luck on the 8th

Thanks for the responses chaps, much appreciated. Dan28, I wouldnt be comfortable with chopping and welding on such a critical part, potential for failure Paul, already bent them a little, dont really want to go any more as may fracture, and my engineers gut instinct tells me Ive gone enough, I reckon we're right not to go more Leatherat, Yep, hung like a donkey Bend the bars Dead right with the last couple of points, hence no more bending Kirrie Pete/Noise, not been able to locate levers directly compatable with mounting/pivot and spring holes/arc reach etc TaskMaster, yes, earlier today I rotated the bars a little and then rotated the lever mounting units also seperate to the bars. Its been more of a problem with the Virago than the Dragstar and I reckon thats because the Virago bars arent as wide and straight as the Draggies, so the wrists cock outwards slightly when riding. Its does feel a little more confortable, and the reach is better cos the wrist is straighter Ill see how I go with this set up for a while. Thanks again all for taking the time to respond. Ray

Hi all, wonder if anyone can advise on this please. Rode through last winter with summer gloves on, got small hands with limited reach and cant hook around the brake lever frimly with winter gloves on due to extra thickness shortening reach. Ive had the levers off of the dragstar and the virago and tweeked em a tad closer at the near point (a little better), if I go a tad more, will the alloy break/fracture? Ive searched the web and cant find any ref to this problem Any tips before I consider heated grips before next winter? Thanks Ray

What about royalties?

I'd advise against making any adjustments or mods yourselves, you may invalidate the warranty. The onus lies with the dealer and Yamaha to provide you with a machine fit for purpose Engaging 1st is not confined to just your bike type (should the bike be faultless). The knack is to change down thorugh the gears using engine braking, and then snick it into first before the bike stops ie all components rotating still. Takes anticipation and forward planning, skills which you need in order to progress smoothly when riding. Dont let it put you off

I wouldnt advise running until failure, since failure will happen when you moving and could be doing 70. Also big risk of injury and serious damage to the machine. Theres no hard and fast rule and chain wear is difficult to spot unless youve got the chain off. Take it off, lay it flay on something clean, push all of the play inwards (like a concertina)but dont let it bunch up. Measure the length of the chain, then pull the chain play all outwards, and measure the length again. If its more than one fullpitch difference in length, consider changing. This is only a rule of thumb, and depends upon the overall length f the chain, but folk are sometimes shocked at just how much their chain is stretched.

Well done with the test. Has the swerve been dropped from the mod 1 yet? Like Taskmaster says, type in engine bars/crash bars and just scan through waht comes up, same with the other stuff, there are lots of suppliers of those parts out there. Fehling is another manufacturer of bars Did you sell the 125?